Thursday, November 08, 2007

Chuffed. And Whipped.

I don't usually post links to it over here because, well, I'm a space shot and I forget, but I also write a blog for the dLife website. Today I got some great feedback from my editor that really made my day. She said I have a really high reader return rate, which means people are reading and then coming back to read more of my stuff. I don't know why I get so embarrassed about hearing stuff like that, but I am a bit. It's really nice, though.

It was lovely to get that email at the tail end of what's fixing to be a horrible day. Boo has not only figured out how to climb out of her crib, she knows how to climb over the gate. I'm going to have to plane down her door (it's an old house - the door won't shut all the way) and put a lock on it. I don't know how else to keep her from roaming the house when she should be sleeping. And she wakes up The Bug when she does this because she climbs into Bug's crib and usually strips the poor kid naked and then tosses all the kid's blankets on the floor. The Bug stands there, naked and cold and wailing to beat the band. 's great.

Today I separated them. I put The Bug back into our bedroom (fanfuckingtastic) and left Boo in her room alone. She trashed it. All of her clothes are out of the dresser. She ripped down the mini-blind. She pulled the mattress off the toddler bed (that she refuses to sleep in) and put it on the floor. She stripped off her clothes and her diaper. She finally collapsed in exhaustion, I'm guessing, on the mattress on the floor, stark naked, with a towel covering her, and slept for about 45 minutes.

The Bug slept well in our room for her nap today, but I am not happy that I have to separate them again. I was really looking forward to having my room back. The last few nights I've been able to read without the light waking her up. I like that. It's relaxing. I don't want to go back to sneaking around my room like a thief.

Tomorrow I'm hanging up all the pictures that were in Boo's room. I have a rug I can put in there, too. I'm hoping those two things will make it a little more homey for her and get her to actually sleep in there rather than trashing it.

I think I need to clarify about The Bug's "Shut up" issue - she's only 15 months old. I can't really reason with her. I do tell her to say "Shhh" instead, which she does. After she says "Shut up!"


So. Yeah. I'm fucking whipped, man. I have a fever, a horrible croupy cough and I generally feel like ass. Parenting the Shriek Sisters is challenging at the best of times, but you throw all this extra shit in and I'm hanging on by my fingernails right about now.

Whiskey. It's yer only man.

11 comments:

kittenpie said...

Oh god, I had that horrible sickness last month and it took me a good month to get back on my feet. Only to be hit with a new cold this week. So sorry.

She's only 15 months? Wow. I guess once she's out of the crib, there isn't really a choice any more about the bed, is there? That's a scary thing, especially if she is climbing the gate, too. Pumpkinpie isn't doing the gate, (though she finally last month started scaling the crib right before she left it), and still, I am feeling the urge to put an extra lock on the front door, really high up just in case she ever gets down there without waking me some night.

(And yeah, we have those old-house doors, too. We had to plane down the one for the new room.)

Angewl said...

I hope you feel better soon.

You could sneak some whiskey in their sippy cups. lol

{{hugs}}

MsPicketToYou said...

Put one of those tents over my daughters crib when she was 13 months old. She couldn't walk, but damn, she could climb out of that crib. I put a lock on the door; her older sister picked it. Now, my two girls, 8 and 6, have different rooms but spend almost every night, like kittens, curled up in the same twin bed together. My point is: it sucks and it changes. And when you're sick and can't do your "best," bribe 'em with candy to stay in bed. Or do whatever you need to do.

Paige said...

I forget that she's still so young. She certainly is a powerhouse.

(and I know that you really don't need me over here snickering at you, but the whole thing about climbing into The Bug's bed and stripping her cracked me up a little.)

hot toddies all around!

Anonymous said...

OK, you are whipped, girly! That is one need a pantie change post! And I thought that my girls' were the only ones that do this kind of stuff!

TSintheC said...

{{{hugs}}} It's been a rough week all around, I've passed out tons of hugs today.

Hope you get some rest this weekend.

Cat, Galloping said...

i'm sorry you're having so much trouble, but the fact that she climbs into the bug's crib and strips her naked is freakin' hilarious! from afar, i mean.

Kevin said...

Congrats on the awesome feedback. Very well deserved, I'm sure (confession: I haven't read any of the blogs at dLife, mostly because I can't hardly keep up with the ones I already get feeds to).

And, honestly, I don't know how you do it. I am in utter awe of any parent that maintains a blog. Our kiddos are 7 weeks old, and I haven't been able to post a THING since our family help left us after the first 3 weeks.

I too have a kick-my-ass cough/cold. I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to get better if I'm only getting to sleep in 3 hour increments. I think I may never be healthy again.

Andrea said...

Hey, I don't know how much it'll help depending on how sensitive The Bug is to light, but there's something called a Light Wedge that you can put against your book page and it only illuminates the page, and not the space around you. I have the Harry Potter one (dork! but I don't care) and I love it. It's great for reading in the car after dark without disturbing the driver and my sensitive-to-light whiny husband even lets me use it at night when he's trying to sleep. There's a website, lightwedge.com where you can order them and they just run off 4 AAA batteries. Maybe it would help you regain a little sanity if it didn't feel like you're a total slave in your own room.

I'm sorry Boo has been such a handful. Maybe the move has messed with her more than you thought and it'll get better as she acclimates. I hope so.

Andrea said...

And I get your rough week business. Between my transmission dropping in the middle of an intersection and costing $1500 to fix, my husband hurting his back rendering him a couch potato all week, putting my dog to sleep, and my nephew coughing up blood earlier this week, I'm wrung out as well.

I'm thinking I might use that one glass of wine a week allowance I've tried to save for special occasions (my sister's wedding; my anniversary) just to make it through until Sunday. New week, right? Doesn't sound like it could get much worse. So hugs to you. I totally get it.

LJ said...

not sure how you feel about doc phil(harmonic) but he once had a great advice for a parent...remove everything but the mattress from the childs room. The principal is that she has to earn everything back. She is only 2.5 right? and to think she can wreek so much disaster is beyond me (as well as yourself). I think she's just balking at the move, that she's the middle daughter (and older of the two shriek sisters). She's just pissed off about her little life. Poor thing! AAnd poor you to have to put up with her antics. As for her climbing over the gate can you put another gate on top of the other one?
how about sneaking some vodka in YOUR sippy cup!
Just had a thought...she was breastfed right? So perhaps she's jealous that her bf time was cut short from her sister. Anyway I'm rambling...What the heck do I know anyway?!